Internet delivery of digital content to IPTVs continues to increase, as does the popularity of IPTVs themselves. As for many digital devices, especially those on networks, device registration of IPTVs can lead to many benefits for users. A key benefit for registration of IPTVs is association with a user account that allows access to various services. However, user registration for an IPTV device is inconvenient. The user needs to either leave the living room to access a PC, which is inconvenient, or perform the registration directly on the IPTV, which generally has a poor input interface. For example, in some systems a registration code is entered into a web browser on the device using a remote control. While the user need not leave the location of the device, most remote controls are not designed for significant amounts of data entry.
One successful attempt to remedy the situation is by allowing a user to employ a second display, e.g., a cell phone or tablet computer, to assist in the performance of the registration by entering data on a more user-friendly device. While highly convenient in many situations, less tech-savvy users may still encounter difficulty in performing the necessary functions to register an IPTV, e.g., downloading an application, configuring the second display with their device, and so on.
Studies have indicated that a high percentage of users of IPTVs and other network-enabled devices, e.g., Blu-ray® players, do not register their devices. Not only do the users miss out on the benefits of registration but network providers miss out on receiving business information about such users, which may be employed to improve services and advertising to the consumer. Accordingly, there is a need to make even more convenient the registration process of devices such as IPTVs, and thereby enable users to more conveniently receive the benefits of such registration. Moreover, there is a need to improve the overall user experience of data entry to such devices.